Improvements
I spent most of today going over an Onan 5.5Kw generator. Its a 2007 model and is 1 full Kw bigger than the one I own (also an Onan, which is a sub unit of Cummins.) Interestingly enough, at least to me, is actual physical size. The coils and armature are at least half the size of my older unit, but put out more juice. The engine itself is a .6L v-twin whereas mine is 1.3l opposed twin and puts out 5 less Hp. Mine is also all cast iron, even the intake manifold, and pretty much requires an engine hoist to install in an RV. The one I was working on today was able to be pulled out by myself and my boss, without having to resort to hoists and/jacks.
So, more energy output using less and cheaper resources via a smaller higher efficiency engine.
Its that kind of change that I like to see. Yeah, it may be goofy to work on (its a rather convoluted layout ‘under the hood’ ) but it works, is quiet, and sips the gas where mine is a flat pig about fuel.
And thats just one area where things have become better. I know we are all bombarded, day in and day out, about how bad things are getting, how the world is in decline, etc,,,
But lately, I have started to really question all the doom and gloom. For fact, I know I have been handed the doom and gloom paradigm since I was in H.S. I’ve even ‘preached it’ here and on the older sites. But you have to start asking ‘WHEN?’. I’m not saying things won’t get worse, thats always a possiblilty, but for 30 years, I’ve been hearing it and yet, bigger picture, (disregarding Government growth) things are actually better. People are living longer, communication has improved to the point of being annoying, information is so readily available that you have to wade through it to find fact from fiction, etc etc.
Yeah, healthcare is outrageous cost wise, but, weekly I see or hear about someone being treated for a problem that 20 years ago would have been disabling or fatal.
I just pointed out to a buddy that even computing is ‘cheap’. I bought a laptop 8 years ago for $500. That same model moved forward in time with all the upgrades and improvements is now listing for $250.
We are seeing more variety of ‘programming’ through cloud based entertainments, and some of the few I have seen are outstanding in comparison to the last time I ‘tuned in’ (back pre-O-blammy).
So, with just those minimal touch points of improvement to further this post, I have to ask the only question that makes sense. Of all the doom and gloom, who benefits? I never ‘benefited’ monetarily from it, in fact, it has cost me a great deal to get, and stay, prepared. I did benefit from meeting some great people, and I did benefit from the way it forced serious self-education on me, but I still ask: to whose benefit is it that we as a species are always so damned negative?
(And yes, this is in no small part to something I am reading. I’ve highlighted several passages I agree with, and added my own notes where I think the author has bought a bit to much koolaid, but overall, very enlightening, and exceptionally well written. Highly recommended. )
The doom and gloom isnt even a new thing. There is documentation that goes back ages where people were making careers of it. Malthius, etc.
Prognostication is as reliable as crystal healing IMO, and has only a touch more respectability.
I’ll leave it there for now, its just one more aspect of ‘re-programming’ myself after asking a series of questions. Keep learning; never ever stop that.
Dio's Workshop 
Would humanity’s rise look like market graph?
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August 5, 2019 at 7:48 pm
Interestingly enough, yes!
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August 5, 2019 at 6:56 pm
Yup, rise as if Everest then dive off like Niagra. Problem being, ya have a difficult time predicting when that falls occurs.
I’ve been waiting even longer my friend…yet not really regretting my own preparations.
Insurance never does come cheap, and almost always only benefits the party you purchase it from.
You and I both are technically oriented enough to understand that innovations have repeatedly saved humanities collective bacon. Though that magic hat may well let us down one day.
One aspect I see currently unfolding with society is this propaganda about fake news.
Much of which is fake, question is …which is reality ?
To me , this denial of science could well reach out and bite us. Fact is population is increasing rapidly while resources are getting tougher to harvest. Yet the inclination is to just increase and burn , baby burn.
At my age, I’m not very worried… for myself. In a nation that raises it’s children in a culture of violence in video games, movies, and competitive sport activities and then sends them out into the world to occupy foreign lands, suppress their populations, and ship their resources back home, how can anyone wonder why these things continue to happen? In light of the current state of decay and collapse of our once affluent systems, it seems only natural to me that the most desperate and demented of our society act our violently against unarmed, total strangers. The American Bully mentality at it’s lowest.
Take away all of the guns, all of the knives, all of the baseball bats or whatever other patsies the politicians care to sacrifice and the demented will surely find other ways to inflict mass casualties on their fellow plebes. At least the politicians and the wealthy do not have to worry about being attacked for they have armies of goons in suits and sunglasses armed with Uzi’s to protect them. In the end, protecting themselves is all they really care about and they will happily do it at our expense. C’est La Vie.
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August 6, 2019 at 4:58 am
If that ‘rise like Everest and drop like Niagra’ happens, it will be due to something try catastrophic, like another world war, or SMOD. The bell curve of inovation doesn’t just drop off, it just shifts markets. The US is on its down ward slope while Asia (China, India, Thailand, etc) are on the upward slope. World wide, that slope is rising due to internet inovation and market homogenization from credit accessibility. Granted, that accessibility is also part of why we are expecting a collapse, so where we go from here is what its always been: a toss of the coin.
As for arms, I’ve said it and said it; I am the weapon! What I use is just a tool. Outlaw the tools and the determined will still find a way. Heck, they do it in prisons with shivs and shanks, why would improved resources of a free market despite legal limitations, limit weapon selection? I can still pick up a rock or a tree limb and accomplish my goal if I feel the need for violence.
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August 6, 2019 at 7:19 am
Left a post on Bisonpreppers blog about your new book and says he’ll review soon seeing how I recommend you. His daily following I gather is around six to seven hundred folks. Also recommended your blog, so get busy writing Bubba lol.
Hope it helps ya sell a few copies. To
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August 6, 2019 at 10:06 am
Lol. Thanks! Am working on an addendum to this post now,,,
Wanna make sure your copy arrived, sent it out last week
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August 6, 2019 at 10:31 am
Dang, Done slipped my mind to let ya know I got the book. Sorry bout that. Appreciate it much !
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August 6, 2019 at 4:18 pm